Area residents talk about New Year’s resolutions

Hot topics include health, careers

OMAK  Lots of people make New Year’s resolutions, rarely keep them, and then make the same resolutions again the next year.

Heading the list generally are goals such as exercising more, eating better, and cutting down on alcohol or cigarettes. In this technological age, spending less time on social media also can figure high on many people’s lists.

What sorts of resolutions are people in Okanogan Country making for 2014? The Chronicle contacted a number people and asked.

“My resolution is to work hard to get the funding to take care of three major projects we need to accomplish soon for the Okanogan County Fair,” Parks and Recreation Board member Bill White said.

Those projects are to build new restrooms to replace the ones at the main entry, build new grandstands, and expand and modernize the RV area, the Twisp resident said.

Riverside author William Slusher took a more political approach.

“I herewith resolve to help my kids and theirs try to recover our beloved and once-great America from the reckless extra-constitutional abuse and destruction done it by the witlessly incompetent Obama administration,” he said.

“My resolution is to be positive and not let negative ideas control my view of life in our great country,” Omak resident and attorney Peg Callaway said.

Many said they don’t make resolutions, although a few offered some goals.

“I have never been one to make resolutions, not even one,” Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers said. “I guess I always figured if I was going to do something, I would just do it.”

While some people have that take-charge attitude, others look at things in terms of gradual, overall improvement.

Omak dentist Dr. Greg Grillo said when he lived in Japan in the 1990s, he learned the word “kaizen,” which translates roughly to “continuous improvement.”

“I revisit that term around New Year’s and make sure my plans for the new year fit in around that philosophy, and that the year left behind reflects its fulfillment, he said.

“We can’t help getting older, but we can get better in many ways,” he said. “This little word has been a guiding principle for me in business and personal life.”

Okanogan County Clerk Charleen Groomes said she doesn’t make resolutions, but has had life goals — and has achieved the three major ones: To be done having children by age 30, to quit drinking after her divorce and to run for county clerk. She started full-time work in that office 34 years ago and now is the elected clerk.

She said she owes a lot to family, friends, co-workers, her three children and her best friend, Glen.

“My resolution is to quit making resolutions,” she said. “I don’t seem to be able to stick to them. I do better at setting goals.”

Omak physician Dr. Bill Dienst said he, too, has given up on resolutions.

“I have had to make enough resolutions in previous years to last several years more,” he said. “All I hope to do now is keep on keeping on, and hope that life will work out.”

“I no longer resolve to — fill in the blank — because at some point it dawned on me that it was a real focus on the negative,” Omak Mayor Cindy Gagne said. “It was always something that I needed to change, I didn’t like or that wasn’t right in some way.

“Instead, I make a list of things I’d like to get done, or see or do. This serves as a guideline that I review periodically as a reminder or as I get things accomplished,” she said. “At the end of the years, things that didn’t get done get reassessed and either discarded or put on the new list.”

And, in terms of taking action on goals, Rogers said he’s never liked target dates, but added, “OK, this year I will make a resolution to make a resolution next year.”

For those who do set resolutions, other popular choices include: Learn a new language, learn a musical instrument, spend less money, secure a dream job, average eight hours of sleep a night, improve qualifications, spend more time with kids, get a pet, take more bike rides, watch more news and documentaries, dump partner (and find better one), improve cooking skills, do more for charity, get a promotion at work, stop watching trashy reality TV, have more sex, see more of friends, eat less chocolate, drink less coffee, take up a new sport, go to church more often, read more books, travel more and spend less time at work.

New Year’s and make sure my plans for the new year fit in around that philosophy, and that the year left behind reflects its fulfillment,” he said.

“We can’t help getting older, but we can get better in many ways,” he said. “This little word has been a guiding principle for me in business and personal life.”

Okanogan County Clerk Charleen Groomes said she doesn’t make resolutions, but has had life goals — and has achieved the three major ones: To be done having children by age 30, to quit drinking after her divorce and to run for county clerk. She started full-time work in that office 34 years ago and now is the elected clerk.

She said she owes a lot to family, friends, co-workers, her three children and her best friend, Glen.

“My resolution is to quit making resolutions,” she said. “I don’t seem to be able to stick to them. I do better at setting goals.”

Omak physician Dr. Bill Dienst said he, too, has given up on resolutions.

“I have had to make enough resolutions in previous years to last several years more,” he said. “All I hope to do now is keep on keeping on, and hope that life will work out.”

“I no longer resolve to — fill in the blank — because at some point it dawned on me that it was a real focus on the negative,” Omak Mayor Cindy Gagne said. “It was always something that I needed to change, I didn’t like or that wasn’t right in some way.

“Instead, I make a list of things I’d like to get done, or see or do. This serves as a guideline that I review periodically as a reminder or as I get things accomplished,” she said. “At the end of the year, things that didn’t get done get reassessed and either discarded or put on the new list.”

And, in terms of taking action on goals, Rogers said he’s never liked target dates, but added, “OK, this year I will make a resolution to make a resolution next year.”

For those who do set resolutions, other popular choices include: Learn a new language, learn a musical instrument, spend less money and secure a dream job.